Title
Sidewalk Repair Policy Briefing
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Receive a briefing regarding Sidewalk Repair Policy.
Report
Issue:
Whether to receive a briefing regarding Sidewalk Repair Policy
Staff Contact:
Michelle Swanson, AICP, Senior Planner, Public Works Transportation, 360.753.8575
Presenter(s):
Michelle Swanson, AICP, Senior Planner
Background and Analysis:
Some sidewalks in Olympia are in a state of poor repair, and efforts to encourage the adjacent property owners to fix them are often not successful.
Current practice
In February 2022, this Committee was briefed on the City's approach to sidewalk repair. The Committee requested that staff explore policy options to improve the state of repair for sidewalks.
Currently, OMC 12.36.010 requires adjacent property owners to repair their sidewalks. The City does prioritize and maintain some sidewalks on the same streets where we maintain street trees. Those are streets downtown and along many major streets, which are shown in the attached map. These streets have a lot of pedestrian activity, and many of them also have transit stops along them, which people typically walk to.
Elsewhere, we generally send a letter to the property owner and request that they repair the sidewalk adjacent to their property. In some instances, when the sidewalk is reported directly to Code Enforcement rather than to Public Works Transportation staff, Code Enforcement staff will pursue the case. This results in uneven enforcement.
Policy Approaches
Staff researched what other cities do to address sidewalk repair and found a range of approaches. These will be reported to the committee in the presentation.
Next steps
To make progress on sidewalk repair starting next year, the forthcoming 2024-2029 Preliminary Capital Facilities Plan will include a program to repair some sidewalks. From this program, we will get a better understanding of the co...
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